Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia that fortunately is of no immediate danger for the hockey player and it’s also treatable. With this good news coming after the shocking diagnose, the 34-year-old forward said he had began the treatment and he won’t miss any games for the Leafs.

"When you find out that you have something it's definitely shattering to your whole family and so on," Blake said.

"Overall, I feel good. I'm still here and my goal this whole season hasn't changed."

The medical diagnose was chronic myelogenous leukemia, a slow-growing form of cancer of the white blood cells.
Blake recorded a career-high 40 goals and 29 assists last year as he played for the New York Islanders. He recently signed a $20 million, five-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I'm not familiar with the condition so it was new that something like this would be as treatable. And for such a positive sentence to come after such a negative sentence, it takes a little while to get your head around it." Toronto coach Paul Maurice said.

Blake’s wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001 while she was pregnant. At that time Blake missed the last 13 games of the season with the Islanders so he could be by his wife. After she gave birth to a daughter, she underwent a throat surgery and had the tumor removed.

Similar Situations

This case is preceded by similar unfortunate situations, but luckily they all had a happy end.

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes. He began the treatment and after just a month he resumed play. The treatment involved radiations, and after just several hours from receiving his last radiation healing session, Lemieux flew to Philadelphia for his team’s match and managed to score a goal and get an assist in his first game after nearly two months. He went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu also missed most of the 2001-02 season after he received diagnose that he had abdominal cancer. He and began treatment and managed to recover just in time for the playoffs. Then he went on to score 10 points in 12 games and lead the Canadiens to the conference semifinals.